Page 24

Frontiers October 2013 Issue

airplane that we all envisioned 10 years
ago,” Jenks said. He was speaking of the
787-9, but his words reflected the vision
that Boeing engineers had for an airplane
that would become the 787.
Jenks knows about that early vision.
He has been with the 787 program from
the beginning, when a working-together
group of airline customers, back in 2001
and 2002, were deciding between a
futuristic-looking Boeing jet known as the
Sonic Cruiser that would carry passengers
just shy of the speed of sound and a more
conventional-looking jetliner that would
be super-efficient—a new commercial
airplane for a new century. They opted
for efficiency over speed, and the 7E7
(later renamed 787) was born.
In his Everett office, Jenks has a model
of the Sonic Cruiser, along with models of
the 787-8, 787-9 and 787-10. He was
technology integration director for the
Sonic Cruiser program before moving
over as team leader for wings, empennage
and landing gear on the 787. Much of
the advanced technology that would
have gone into the Sonic Cruiser, he said,
instead went into the 787, the first large
commercial jetliner with a mostly composite
skin instead of metal.
The 787-8 entered passenger service
with launch customer ANA (All Nippon
Airways) in late 2011.
Air New Zealand is scheduled to take
first delivery of the 787-9 in mid-2014. The
next member of the family, the 787-10, is
set to deliver in 2018.
At first glance, the 787-9 looks pretty
much like the 787-8, with the same fuselage
cross-section and advanced interior.
But the 787-9 is 20 feet (6 meters) longer.
Depending on how an airline configures the
cabin, that extra length will typically mean
about 40 more passengers. The 787-9
has a range of about 8,500 nautical miles
(9,800 miles, or 15,700 kilometers), or
some 300 nautical miles (350 miles, or
555 kilometers) more than the 787-8.
In addition to its longer fuselage
and greater range, the 787-9 includes
a number of advancements.
Take the tail. The leading edge of both
24 BOEING FRONTIERS / OCTOBER 2013
the vertical and horizontal stabilizers on the
787-9 utilize “hybrid laminar flow control,” a
breakthrough technology that smooths out
airflow and reduces drag on the plane’s tail.
That, in turn, reduces fuel use and emissions
with every flight—meaning both the
airlines and the environment will benefit.
Industry engineers worked to perfect
hybrid laminar flow control technology for
decades, but the weight of the systems
was more than the potential fuel savings.
Finally, Boeing engineers figured it out,
and the 787-9 will be the first production
commercial jet to feature the innovative
technology, according to John Koppelman,
structural design lead engineer on the
787-9 empennage. He was selected as
Boeing’s Engineer of the Year in 2012 for
his role as team lead on hybrid laminar
flow control.
Boeing has not only incorporated
new technology and improvements to
the 787-9, but it has also used lessons
learned from the 787-8 to improve the
787 production system and supply chain—
helping introduce the 787-9 while ramping
up production of the 787-8. The result:
The 787-9 went together with an ease
that even surprised Jenks and other
program leaders.
And the first plane, to be joined by the
rest of the flight-test fleet by the end of
this year, actually weighs several hundred
pounds less than engineers had projected
when the 787-9 design configuration became
firm in 2010. That’s almost unheard
of on airplane development programs,
even for a derivative model.
Employees who assembled the first
787-9 echo what Jenks and others say
about how well production has gone.
Early on, Boeing took some of its most
experienced 787-8 employee teams, gave
them some additional training, and moved
them over to the 787-9. Those employees
brought not only their skills and know-how
but also lessons learned from initial production
challenges with the 787-8.
“It’s awesome how well the build has
gone,” said Amanda Evangelista, a manufacturing
representative for the 787-9 who
was doing the same work on the 787-8. She
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GRAPHIC AND PHOTOS: (Clockwise from top left) An artist’s concept of a Boeing 787-9
in the Air New Zealand livery. Boeing Mark Jenks, vice president of 787 development;
Harrison Lockhart III; Tom Hagerty, left, and Stephen Soran; Ponareay Heng, left, and
Amanda Evangelista; Uyen Mach. bob ferguson/boeing